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What? You are questioning my professionalism!

I believe it very important that before you judge anyone about anything in their business you must have your own ducks in row first.

Today was the first time in my business career that my professionalism was questioned and it was like having a stake driven into my heart.

From time to time I scan the local paper for any job advertisements that may apply and whether our services could assist the organisation searching to fill a role. This particular job advertisement asked for contact to be made via an admin@ email address. No other contact details were provided i.e. phone number or contact name of the person taking enquiries.

In my initial contact email to the organisation I mentioned that I would follow up in a few days. As the advert didn’t have any contact details other than an email address I took the initiative of finding out more about the organisation and viewed their website where I found their phone number.

On phoning the number the receptionist answered and I asked to speak with the person that is taking enquiries regarding the job advertisement. At that point I was told this person was unavailable. I was expecting an offer of a call back but this didn’t come, instead I got asked whether I wanted to email a follow up, which I accepted. The email offered was different to the one in the advertisement, this time it was an info@ email.

Following my email I received a call from the owner of the organisation offering her feedback on my proposal. She said she felt that my emailing the info@ email was unprofessional and that all enquiries should have gone to the admin@ email address instead. I must admit I was taken a back by this and felt it necessary to explain the steps of my approach and suggested that it was imperative that the staff member answering the organisations phones be informed of correct protocols when dealing with enquiries. This fell on deaf ears.

I believe this owners approach was very rude and showed a complete lack of understanding of acceptable customer service ethics. I will certainly be the elephant in this situation. I will never forget this experience, the owners name or the organisation.

What I’ve learnt from this experience:

Not every organisation you approach is a good fit for your business – they will have different ways of doing business and different ideas of how a business should be run. Don’t change to please them. If you are more often than not receiving positive feedback, you must be doing something right.

It is very important when advertising a job that you supply appropriate contact details for those potential candidates that wish to enquire further about the role i.e. contact name and phone number.

Use this time to double check your own systems and processes and tweak anything that needs improvement.

Whenever you approach an organisation with feedback, do it gracefully and respectfully and always make sure the feedback you are giving is actually something they should improve on and not a process your organisation is lacking internally.

Always thank the person that is providing the feedback, even if you don’t agree with their opinion.

If you get questioned about your professionalism – make sure to take it on board and think about the feedback thoroughly. If you disagree with the feedback, take it on the chin and remember all the positive comments and testimonials you’ve received from your clients that have never questioned your professionalism.

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“Letitia provides essential support to my speaking practice with the services she offers from Shipshape Business Support. Whilst the administrative and support services are important to me, it is Letitia's tenacity and resilience with the business building process that I admire most. She remains professional,focused and unflappable when things don’t go according to expectation or plan, which is an unusual and valuable trait in my industry. I would highly recommend Letitia for her honesty, determination and commitment to achieving your business goals alongside you.”

Sandy Geyer, Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker

“I had met Letitia and was impressed by her obvious organisational skills and calm and efficient manner. Dress for Success needed someone to Project Manage a big event. Someone who was willing to take direction but also able to use initiative and someone both willing and able to take responsibility for liaising with important clients and funders. Letitia took over the day-to-day tasks and running around when I was unable to. Letitia is a complete pro. Able to handle any task you throw at her with a ready smile and a calm and efficient manner. A major asset to have around when you are running or putting on any kind of event. Letitia comes up with solutions and keeps things running smoothly. Thank you, Letitia!”